New Sydney ADS-B Station

[Maikha Ly]

Hi folks!

Forgive me for my otherwise newbie enquiry to this, but I have been following this thread with great interest.

I'm interesting in getting a system like this, very much like Mark Taylor's one that was displayed at the Rowers Club the other evening. In hindsight, I should have gone up to the computer to have a closer look, though the food and company were more of a distraction than anything!

I'm after a system purely for real-time display of in/outbound aircraft, in the display format like the one at Rowers, that had the radar style display with the aircraft tracks, flight numbers and the like, in a similar style to what the ATC would be seeing. What was the system on display and is it similar to the one being discussed in this thread? Do regional RPT aircraft (I.e. Dash-8s, Fokker 50s, Fokker 100s, Metros, etc) have these fitted on them yet? I understand quite a few SAABs do.

My second query is, I understand how the ADS-B systems work, and their progressive implementation across Australia to replace the current airborne radar systems. Is there expected to be any date/deadline to abolish airborne radar with ADS-B and the mandatory fitting to all Australian commercial and military aircraft? What about GA aircraft?

My other objective to getting a system is to see other traffic aside from jet RPTs, like the regionals, GA and if possible, military, around Adelaide/SA.


Again, please forgive me for my newbie-like replies. I've yet to get a full understanding of how it all works, but I am indeed interested in getting one. If anyone is interested in providing further assistance, please drop me a line and I can specify more about my situation, such as where I live and the structure of my residence.

Many thanks!

[Grahame Hutchison]

Hi Maikha,

I have just setup my system, however there are other Board Members with far greater experience than me with ADS-B.

Below are some I the things I considered and noticed while doing the setup :-

• There are several base units available, I went with the RadarBox simply because there was a free one on offer (others may comment on the differences between units. Kinetic SBS is another option). AirNav radarBox base unit costs $612.

• The small portable antenna that came with the unit was basically useless at my location.

• Your location, and location of the antenna is very important. The transmissions are bacically line of sight, so any obstacle (mountain, house etc) is going to affect the reception. My antenna is mounted on a 3 metre mast and looks directly out to sea, so on the eastern side of the compass reception has reached 485nm (Christchurch-Brisbane flights). On the western side it is more like 150nm, although I can pickup the Melbourne-Brisbane flights.

• The selection of antenna is also very important, and you can find several options on the internet. After reading a number of antenna sites, I decided to go with a DPD Productions antenna. There are built in California, and Dave had to do a special for me because of the US Mail size requirements. This is a 7 element rather than 10 element, however the performance is amazing. Cost including short N/SMA fly lead and postage from the USA was roughly $189.

• Coax cable is the final area to look at, and Noel posted a link in this thread to a site that has a performance calculator for various cable types and lengths. Initially I used RG58 to try different antenna locations, and finally went with the more expensive LMR-400 recommended by Noel, when I knew the exact length required. This cable connects directly to the antenna, and the base end has a short more flexible fly lead to convert the N Connector to the smaller SMA connector on the base unit. This short fly lead also allows for a little more flexibility with the base unit location, as the LMR-400 cable is very thick and not so flexible. My cable run is under 15 metres and cost approx $129 including N connectors and postage. Kurt also supplied links to a couple of cable sites.

Happy to help with any other questions, and I am sure Kurt and Noel will chip in also.

Base Unit AirNav Systems RadarBox or Kinetic
Antenna DPD Productions ADS-B (SBS / RadarBox) Vertical Outdoor Model Antenna
Coax Cable https://www.eyou.com.au/search/ Times Microwave LMR-400

[Grahame Hutchison]

This is another view of the ADS-B action today from my location up to 7pm (flight tracks on PlanePlotter). Plenty of USA and Kiwi flights out to 250+ nm,
a solid track out to YBBN, and a conga line tracking into YSSY from the north at present. YMML flights track coverage is out to YSCB, and there were
plenty of YMML-YBBN and YSCB-YBBN flights there also. No Kiwi to YBBN flights recorded today.

620 flights to 7pm today, a bit down on weekdays, which runs at 800+ flights.

[Jarrad Phillips]

Grahame does your feed go into Plane Finder or Flightradar24?

[Grahame Hutchison]

Jarrad, I am feeding AirNav Systems and PlantPlotter (qR).

[Grahame Hutchison]

Also just added FlightRadar24 to my feed Jarrad.

[Jarrad Phillips]

Awesome Grahame, thanks for that!

[Grahame Hutchison]

When you look at the aircraft details, I am Radar T-YSSY5 on FlightRadar24

[Jarrad Phillips]

Excellent mate, I'm often having a look at what is happening on the east coast!

[Henning S]

Hi,

I hope that someone of you is able to help me. I am running an AirNav RadarBox receiver in Coogee and I have got an external antenna. To connect the antenna with the RadarBox I am using an Aircell 5 cable that has female FME connectors at each end. These are connected to adapters which I can connect to either the antenna and the RadarBox.
My problem is that the connection of one of the FME connectors is broken and I need it to be refitted to the cable. But so far I was not able to find a shop in Sydney that can do this.
Does someone of you know where I can get my cable fixed? And where I can buy a new female FME connector as this might need to be replaced as well?

Thanks,
Henning